After knitting stockinette for days on my Calliope sweater, I felt that I needed a color-work challenge. Mona Zillah aka Bunnymuff has a pretty pattern done in Fair Isle, stranded knitting. The pattern is called Stellar Parallax and you get two patterns for the price of one as it includes directions for a hat and mitts. I’m knitting the fingerless mitts first.

The Wool Yarn

I am knitting with wool yarn which I have in my stash and it includes Rauma (orange and yellow), Tukuwool (green), and Jamieson & Smith 2-ply (blue) and J&S Shetland Supreme (black- dark brown – and white-undyed). The only problem I had was with the dark brown yarn which would occasionally become very thin in places as I knit. All the other colors were very consistent.

A New Way to Knit Corrugated Rib

I was unsure of what needle size to use. My first cuff was knit with a size 3US which is bigger than the pattern suggest. It turned out to be too large around so I began again with a size 2US .

Size 2 US used for all of knitting (9-inch circular needle) except for top of hand and thumb ribbing when I used size 1.5 DPNs.

First, I did the cast-on and ribbing as I usually do corrugated rib. And it looked like this (photo left below). The cuff was too large, so I began again with a smaller needle and followed Mona’s directions (photo right).

One Mitt is Finished

On September 4th I finished my first mitt. All that’s left is the weaving in of ends, which will be a big job. I took some photos while knitting the ribbing at the top of the hand with the thumb stitches on hold.

The whole mitt was knit with size 2 needles until the ribbing. I used size 1.5 to finish off the ribbing on the hand, and then I used the 1.5 for the thumb. I don’t like the Hiya Hiya set of three needles, so I bought some wooden DPNs to use for the second mitt – they are Lykke brand and are beautiful.

Ending Notes on Knitting the Stellar Parallax Mitts Pattern

I enjoyed knitting this pattern by Bunnymuff (link goes to her Ravelry store). She has a lot of colorwork patterns that I love, but she also creates patterns that require steeking – which I’ve never done. Steeking, in case you don’t know, is required when knitting colorwork sweaters that will become cardigans. Because Fair Isle knitting is done in the round, the sweater opening has to be created afterward. It all seems quite scary to me because you must cut up through your knitting! Yikes… I plan to learn it one day, but I’ll have to be in the mood. So I’m sticking with more simple colorwork projects for now.

black cat, knitting basket, fontana — Fontana checks out the knitting basket

As I’ve said, I really liked knitting this pattern and it didn’t take long to finish the knitting. The weaving of ends is another story! I tried to carry the yarn colors more on the second mitt, to keep ends at a minimum, but it didn’t help much. It also didn’t help that Fontana, my cat, would insist on jumping into my lap while I tried to keep all my balls of yarn organized….!! How do cats always know to bother us when we are the busiest? Oh well, in the end, it’s all worth it.

Buying the new set of DPNs, Lykke brand (this is an affiliate link to Amazon), size 1.5 US, made a huge difference when completing the top ribbing for the hand and thumb.

weaving in ends on Stellar mitts — New Lykke DPNs

Lykke driftwood double-pointed needles — New Lykke DPNs

I have yet to wash the mitts because I am still weaving in ends! It’s never-ending, but I love the look of the mitts, which fit perfectly. I’m happy with my color choices and I learned a new way to knit corrugated ribbing. I’ll have to begin the hat part of this pattern soon before I forget where I put all my matching yarn.